The World's Largest Offshore Wind Farm ..... but expansion plans have been halted by bird problems.

Back to the drawing board. Maybe they can sell the windmills and ship to a country with fewer birds. They can try solar cell farms instead if the Bird Society just can't allow any more bird deaths. (memories of a snail darter.)

(Reuters) - The need for a study into the potential threat to the red-throated diver, a type of waterfowl, has forced developers to scrap a project to expand the world's largest offshore wind farm, Britain's London Array.

The consortium of Denmark's Dong Energy, Germany's E.ON and Abu Dhabi state-owned energy investor Masdar joined a growing list of companies scaling back plans to build new offshore wind capacity in Britain.

An assessment of the potential impact to birdlife from construction of the project in the Thames Estuary would take at least three years, the group said on Wednesday, citing the delay, the cost and the added risk.

"There is no guarantee at the end of three years that we will be able to satisfy the authorities that any impact on the birds would be acceptable," Mike O'Hare, general manager of the London Array, said in a statement.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said it had worked with London Array to ensure its initial development would not harm wildlife in the area but "raised concerns over the second phase of the London Array because of the displacement impact on the (bird breed) red-throated diver".

Back to the drawing board. Maybe they can sell the windmills and ship to a country with fewer birds. They can try solar cell farms instead if the Bird Society just can't allow any more bird deaths. (memories of a snail darter.)

(Reuters) - The need for a study into the potential threat to the red-throated diver, a type of waterfowl, has forced developers to scrap a project to expand the world's largest offshore wind farm, Britain's London Array.

The consortium of Denmark's Dong Energy, Germany's E.ON and Abu Dhabi state-owned energy investor Masdar joined a growing list of companies scaling back plans to build new offshore wind capacity in Britain.

An assessment of the potential impact to birdlife from construction of the project in the Thames Estuary would take at least three years, the group said on Wednesday, citing the delay, the cost and the added risk.

"There is no guarantee at the end of three years that we will be able to satisfy the authorities that any impact on the birds would be acceptable," Mike O'Hare, general manager of the London Array, said in a statement.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said it had worked with London Array to ensure its initial development would not harm wildlife in the area but "raised concerns over the second phase of the London Array because of the displacement impact on the (bird breed) red-throated diver".

Yep .... got the response I expected. When two liberal groups fight each other (the wind power folks vs the bird society) ... all the other liberals get stuck in the middle and simply don't know how they should react. So they make fun of posters and politicians and anything else to deflect.

hoofie wrote:I just don't see wind as being commercially cost effective for resale.

It 'can be' if they are located in the correct area and managed properly. The Southern Company is buying wind power.

Southern is the parent company of Atlanta-based Georgia Power Co., which announced last month plans to buy 250 megawatts of wind energy from a wind farm in Oklahoma. Another Southern affiliate, Alabama Power Co., has made an even larger commitment to wind power.

But wind has gotten a bad rap from developers who jump on the bandwagon to get gov't credits and funding for building farms in areas that are not suitable. Make a quick buck ... and then disappear into the night with the building funds, leaving someone holding the bag and windmills rusting.

Just because someone says its 'green friendly' doesn't mean the Feds or anyone else should throw money at it. Hopefully these projects will be scrutinized better now so that we can read success stories, instead of problems like this one in London.